Collection Guide
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Barton (Clara) Correspondence
mssBarton
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Clara Barton correspondence
Creator:
Barton, Clara, 1821-1912
Identifier/Call Number: mssBarton
Physical Description:
1.17 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1850-1890
Abstract: Correspondence of Clara Barton, American nurse and founder of the American Red Cross.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Clara Barton correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Carleton B. Swift, May 1945 and purchased from Robert K. Black, May 1960.
Clara Barton (1821-1912), the founder of the American Red Cross, began her humanitarian career by organizing a relief agency
for wounded soldiers while working in the Patent Office in Washington, D.C., in 1861 and served in the later years of the
Civil War as a superintendent of nurses with the Army of the James. After travelling in Europe from 1869 to 1873, during part
of which time she was active in the International Red Cross in Geneva, she returned to the United States and revived an earlier
movement to establish an American chapter of the organization. The National Society of the Red Cross was founded in 1881;
Barton served as president from its inception until 1904. She died in Maryland in April 1912.
The collection consists of correspondence between members of the extended Barton family, almost half of which was written
between 1863 and 1864, and some pieces of ephemera. Topics addressed within the correspondence include the Civil War and wartime
medical conditions, Clara's humanitarian efforts and the Barton family's affairs. Correspondents include Clara Barton, her
brother, Stephen Barton, and his wife, Elizabeth Rich Barton; their son, Samuel Rich Barton, and his wife, Amelia Barton;
and other relatives of the Barton family including Stephen Emery Barton, Leander T. Poor, Bernard Barton Vassall and Irving
S. Vassall Barton.
Processed by Mimi Dunkle in the 1970s. In October 2023, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.
Arranged alphabetically.
Individual call numbers included in this collection: mssHM 26914-26956.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Nurses -- United States -- Correspondence
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Medical care -- Sources
Letters (correspondence)
Barton, Amelia
Barton, Elizabeth Rich
Barton, Irving Stetson, 1840-1865
Barton, Samuel Rich
Barton, Stephen
Barton, Stephen E. (Stephen Emory), 1848-1929
Poor, Leander T.
Vassall, Bernard B. (Bernard Barton), 1835-1894
American National Red Cross -- History -- Sources